UFC Legend Nick Diaz Breaks Silence on Rehab Exit, Sides With Controversial Girlfriend
Nick Diaz has left a Mexican rehab facility and is back in the gym, but the fight over who really speaks for him has only intensified.
Recent footage shows Diaz training at Extreme Couture in Las Vegas with longtime teammate Jake Shields, signalling his first sustained return to structured work since a troubled stretch that included a viral “grass‑burning” clip and the collapse of a planned comeback against Vicente Luque at UFC 310. Reports through 2025 had Diaz in a rehab centre in Mexico for alleged substance issues, with coaches stressing he was safe and in treatment.
Nick Diaz Released From Mexican Rehab 2026: Latest Updates on His Recovery and Family Conflict
The argument over his inner circle, however, has never cooled. In mid‑2025, a woman identified as Kay or Kayla, presenting herself as Diaz’s girlfriend, claimed he had been drugged by relatives and taken across the border against his will, describing the facility as a “concentration camp” in leaked audio and social posts. Diaz’s coach Cesar Gracie and strength and conditioning coach Jose Garcia publicly pushed back, saying Diaz was fine, had no girlfriend, and accusing a “crazy ex” of squatting in his Stockton home and controlling his social media.
By August 2025, Garcia, posting as @bbjninjarecovery, told fans Diaz was “doing exceptionally well” and in “optimal health and high spirits,” crediting a “loving partner” and framing the family as the steady force in his recovery. Around the same time, Garcia shared updates from rehab and even ICU, casting himself as an advocate and relay for Diaz’s condition.
Nick Diaz Emerges From Rehab to Face New Questions Over Inner Circle
The new twist is that Diaz has now contacted YouTube host Parry Punch directly, according to a video released this week. In on‑screen DMs, Diaz asks Parry to “say something nice” about Kay, saying he spent a year in rehab watching her get criticised. He insists he will only appear on stream once a fight is booked, telling Parry to relay: “Let me get a fight, then I’ll come on.”
Diaz also lashes out at Garcia. Per Parry Punch’s account, Diaz calls BJJ Ninja Recovery “crazy” and says Garcia has “lost his damn mind,” denying that he supports the barrage of posts Garcia has made in his name. On the disputed “squatter” video, where Diaz says he wants “Squatter Squad” members to look after his house, Diaz now claims the clip is a year old and that family pressured him to record it so Kayla could be removed from the property, before he later reversed course and let her back in.
Parry Punch, Jacob Castro, further recounts Diaz’s explanation of the infamous roadside clip: Diaz says he was burning incense at the spot where a girlfriend and a friend died, mirroring earlier reports that showed him shirtless by the road and led to his withdrawal from UFC 310. In the DMs, Diaz says that today he trusts “Junior and my girl,” and that they have been his core support since his split from ex‑partner Heather seven years ago.
That stance collides head‑on with Garcia’s latest long caption, posted as a “Nick Diaz 2026 update” and framed as coming from “Nick’s advocate and family.” Garcia shares a recorded call between Kayla and Sano’s ex‑wife, accuses Kayla and Sano of squatting in Diaz’s house, controlling his phones and accounts, scamming fans and even the parents of a child with cancer, and warns that they are “negative” for Diaz’s recovery and mental health. He urges followers to keep backing the “Nick Diaz advocate and family” line and to get Diaz away from that pair.
The tug‑of‑war predates rehab. Gracie publicly alleged in 2025 that an ex‑girlfriend had “illegally” controlled Diaz’s Instagram and was squatting at his residence, telling fans not to donate to anything tied to that account. Reddit threads and comment sections since then have reflected a split audience: some accept Diaz’s current defence of Kayla and Sano, others fear the latest messages are being written or steered by the same people accused of exploiting him.
For now, the facts are narrow and the claims are wide. Diaz is out of Mexican rehab, back in Las Vegas, and telling at least one outlet that Kayla and Martin Sano Jr. are the only people he truly has. Opposite them stands a camp of relatives and former coaches who say they are still fighting to keep him safe from those very two.
